The elder led us to the part of the ocean where they offered sacrifices to the moon. It was a little natural pier a couple hours from the cove. We stepped onto the sand, gazing into the murky depths. Somewhere down there were two elfin graves. We didn’t know if the elves who were buried there were Jora tribesmen, and it didn’t look like there was an easy way to get down there.

“So you always sacrifice Cora Fish?” I asked.

The elder nodded and said: “We will throw in some other fish or monster meat as well. The Cora Fish honors the ancient elves while the other meat pacifies the great monster that prowls these shores.”

“A great monster?” I lifted one eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s safe to come out here with a monster nearby?”

“Oh yes,” said the elder, “the Limu Dogfish does not jump on shore in this area. The ocean is too deep so it cannot push off against the seafloor. We have to be careful near shallow beaches, however, since the Limu loves ambushing its prey from the shallow waters.”

“Wait,” I said, “that sounds familiar. Do these Limu Dogfish have four long, spindly fins that work like legs? And rows of sharp teeth? And weird blue skin?”

“Yes,” said elder Kezler.

“And does the one you offer fish and meat too around here have two red gems on its forehead?” said Noel.

“Yes,” said the elder.

Noel and I looked at each other. I pulled two red gems out of my pouch and showed them to the elder. I explained that the monster had tried to ambush us, but we managed to kill it with our magic. We had to stop the elder from getting on his knees to thank us. Hearing him sing our praises all the time got tiring, but he refused to stop.

If we were so mighty and venerable in his eyes, the least he could do was listen to us when we told him to stop thanking and praising us, right? Honestly, it felt really strange watching an elderly man look up to me respectfully. Glancing at Noel, I realized it must feel even stranger for her. The only old looking elf she’d met was the Oracle, but even the Oracle looked younger than elder Kezler. And since both the Jora tribe and the Roja tribe place a lot of importance on age and experience, I was sure this must feel completely inappropriate to Noel.

Elder Kezler calmed down eventually. The other Roja tribesmen looked even more intimidated by us, so Noel and I just ignored them, even as they had followed us all the way to the pier. Only little Kelser seemed unimpressed by our power, although he was definitely too afraid of being scolded by his grandfather to approach us.

“Since the venerable elves have slayed the monstrous Limu Dogfish, we will offer that sacrifice to them instead!” said the elder as he told his tribesmen to take the fish and monster meat back to the cave so it could be cooked. After the horrible food we’d had to eat on the wasteland, and the great stew that proved the Roja tribe’s culinary abilities, I was actually more excited by their offering than I cared to admit.

“If the monster is gone,” said Noel, “does that mean we can try going down to the graves?”

I looked at Noel. Wasn’t she supposed to be thalassophobic? No, wait, I had only been assuming that. Although, looking at the way she was biting her lips and staring determinedly at the ocean, perhaps her love for her family was helping her overcome her fears.

“One of us should stay up here,” I said, “just in case any other monsters show up.”

“But what if there are more monsters down there?” said Noel.

“Good point,” I said, “so how about this? You can tie a magic hand around my arm, and if I find another monster down there, I’ll give it a tug. Then you can pull me out and we can run away!”

“Who said you were the one going down?” said Noel.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I mean, you haven’t seen the ocean before, have you?” I said. “Even if you know how to swim in lakes and rivers, swimming in the ocean can be very different.”

“You have a lot of experience swimming in the ocean?” asked Noel.

“Only a little,” I said as I thought about white beaches in Santorini, baby blue waters in Dominica, and spring break at Myrtle beach. “Definitely more than you, that’s for sure.” I’d even gone snorkeling in Goa.

“Fine,” said Noel, “but you should cast motion detection magic around the area, first.”

I shook my head. “That magic isn’t going to work underwater. But don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Besides, it’s a little hard to see down there, but I can still make out what looks like a couple gravestones. Over there.” I pointed into the ocean. Noel looked where I was pointing and squinted.

The fact the graves weren’t completely covered in sand and debris by now was surprising. It probably meant the graves had only recently gone underwater. Either that, or there was some sort of magic involved. Despite how confident I had been while talking to Noel, looking at two graves, distorted by the waves, several feet underwater, made me feel uneasy.

Noel tied her magic hand around my arm. I walked to the edge of the natural pier. Looking around, I saw the human Roja tribesmen and felt strange. The way they were looking at me made me feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t a look I was accustomed to seeing. Their expressions reminded me of the way people looked at massive whales or statues of deities. A sense of awe that was reserved for things that weren’t like oneself, for things that weren’t human.

Another feeling came to my mind as I jumped off the pier and into the murky depths. Wasn’t this how I had come to this world in the first place? Dragged to the bottom of the Charles river by a sense of apathy and an arrogant conviction of invincibility.

The water was cold, which was okay, because I was expecting it. I opened my eyes for a split second, just to make sure there were no monsters around me. The surrounding waters were eerily empty. I closed my eyes and dove deeper. I opened my eyes from time to time, perhaps a little paranoid that something would spring out from the vast expanse. Visibility was poor. I didn’t want to keep my eyes open too long in case something went inside them.

I came up to the graves quite quickly. I wasn’t too worried about air, since I could use elemental air magic to make a bubble around my head. I didn’t want to do it yet, so I could save some magical energy.

The graves weren’t very fancy. A bed of pebbles marked the graves themselves, while two large, chiseled white boulders marked the gravestones. The gravestones didn’t have any markings on them, which was a shame, but it made sense since the elves didn’t have a system of writing. A part of me was hoping they’d come up with something after we were gone, or that they’d used some of the symbols that were around the cave of The Terrible or on the Mad King’s gravestone, but it didn’t look like they’d done that.

I made an air bubble around my head with elemental magic so I could look around some more. Maintaining the bubble was annoying, since it took a lot of energy and I had to keep one of my hands on top of it the entire time. After catching my breath, I went back to searching around the graves.

I moved the boulders a little with earth elemental magic, but there was nothing underneath. I debated digging up the graves, since it might be considered offensive, but figured we had to know for sure, so a little offense may have to be caused.

The first skeleton looked like it belonged to a male elf. There was nothing else buried besides him, and nothing special about his bones. I buried him back under the ground as best I could, but everything was soggy now, so I had to pile up a lot of rocks and press them together to make sure the grave wasn’t washed away too easily.

I dug up the second skeleton, not expecting to find anything special. It was clear these were tough times and even the clothes of the dead were too valuable to bury with them. The second skeleton was in bad shape. There were scrapes and injuries all over his bones, and his joints looked like they’d been through a lot. Even the skull had some scratches on it. This was probably the one that died after a hunt.

I came back up to the surface and told Noel what I had seen. She wasn’t offended that I had dug up the skeletons, but she was disappointed I hadn’t been able to find any identifying details. We asked elder Kezler if there were any other graves or relics that belonged to the elves, but he said this was the only elfin thing his tribe still possessed.

“But you may have some luck with some tribes further North,” said elder Kezler.

“There are more tribes of humans nearby?” I asked.

“Yes,” said the elder, “and if you are looking for elfin relics, you should go to the most powerful tribe in all the lands.”

“Who are they?” I asked, for some reason.

“They are called,” said the elder, “the Jora tribe.”